


Concrete wall 1, Peter Parker 0

by StarryKnight09



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coma, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Head Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29294085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryKnight09/pseuds/StarryKnight09
Summary: Dr. Strange peered over Tony’s shoulder to look down at him.  “What happened?”“His head and the concrete wall had a little disagreement.  The wall won.”Febuwhump Day 8: “hey, hey, this is no time to sleep”andFebuwhump Day 12: “please come back”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138670
Comments: 26
Kudos: 280





	1. Chapter 1

Awareness came back to him slowly. Noises pierced the darkness, but he couldn’t make any sense of them. A high-pitched ringing started and faded in and out. He tried to turn his head to escape it, but it followed him. The world around him seemed chaotic and tense but he couldn’t figure out why. What had happened? Where was he?

“Kid?” A voice finally penetrated the obscurity. “Are you coming back to me?”

The voice seemed nice. It gave him a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest to hear it. And it made him feel safe. Maybe he’d just slip away again for a little while.

“Hey! Pete! No, no, no. Wake up kid!” The voice got sharper and now it was punctuated by movement. Someone was shaking his shoulder.

He groaned. He just wanted to be left alone.

“There you go. Come on Pete. Open your eyes.”

Oh. Was that why everything was shrouded in darkness? His eyes were closed? So all he had to do was open them? How did he do that again? It took a few tries, but he finally got his brain to make his eyelids rise in a slow flickering motion.

Tony sat, crouched at his side, leaning over him. That’s whose voice he’d been hearing. He felt like an idiot for not immediately recognizing it, but his thoughts seemed slow like each one had to travel through a vat of molasses before it could coalesce.

“There he is.” Tony smiled but it looked too tense to be genuine.

Peter just blinked up at him.

“Kid?” Tony frowned and leaned in closer so their faces were only inches apart. “You with me?”

With him where? Was he supposed to be somewhere?

“Can you say something so I know you’re with me?” Tony pestered him as his palm brushed Peter’s hair back off his forehead.

“M head ‘urts.” He mumbled, his answer coming out garbled. He thought that’d get Tony off his back, but if anything, it seemed to make him even more frantic.

“I know. I know buddy, but I need you to stay with me, ok?”

“M ‘ere.” He tried to reassure Tony but speaking those couple sentences seemed to sap all his energy.

He didn’t realize his eyes had slipped closed again until he heard Tony’s panicked voice, “Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep. Wake up kid. Open your eyes.”

He listened but groaned his displeasure.

“Yeah I know. No fun. But those assholes bashed the hell out of your skull, so I need you to stay awake.”

His brow furrowed. What assholes? He had no idea what Tony was talking about. In fact, he had no idea where he was or how he’d gotten there. He tried to look around, but it was hard to see around Tony. Even though the man had settled back on his knees, he was still close enough to block out most of his view that way. He tried to look the other way, but when he moved he thought for a second his head was going to keep going and roll right off. He winced, and after all that effort, the only thing he saw anyway was a cement wall inches from his face.

“Where ‘re we?” He asked, his lips still not quite forming all the words correctly.

“You don’t remember?” Tony asked, eyes intense.

He tried to wrack his brain, but he had no recollection of how they’d gotten here. Were they on a mission? His head throbbed in time with his heart and thinking made it worse, so he stopped. He gave his head such a minuscule shake he wasn’t sure Tony would even notice it.

Tony swallowed hard and Peter saw the worry on his face before he schooled his expression. “That’s all right. That’s fine. Just…we’re in a bit of a situation, but it’s going to be fine.”

Ok. If Tony said it was going to be ok, then Peter trusted him. A distant part of him recognized that he should be freaking out over the situation, but he couldn’t muster even a modicum of anxiety, which in and of itself was odd for him.

He closed his eyes with a sigh.

“Hey, keep those peepers open.” Tony squeezed his shoulder.

He pried his eyes back open, eyelids starting to feel heavier.

“M tired.” He complained.

“I know but you just need to hang in there for a little longer.” Tony glanced over his shoulder. “The team should be back soon and then we’ll get you back home before you can say Spiderman.”

The team? So they had been on a mission? But what kind of mission would be enough to get Tony to come out of retirement?

Before he could decide whether it was worth expending the energy to ask, a ring of gold sparks appeared a couple feet behind Tony. Dr. Strange was here too? Tony followed his gaze and a second later Dr. Strange stepped out, giving Tony a short nod, “Stark.”

“Strange.” Tony responded.

“I heard my presence was requested.”

Instead of a sarcastic comment, Tony just nodded and said, “We need to get the kid back home.”

Dr. Strange peered over Tony’s shoulder to look down at him. “What happened?”

“His head and the concrete wall had a little disagreement. The wall won.”

Dr. Strange frowned. “That’s unfortunate.”

Tony snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”

“I’ll take him.” Dr. Strange offered, coming closer.

“No no. I’ve got him.” Tony put his arms under Peter’s knees and shoulders and lifted.

The change in altitude made his head spin and he fuzzed out for a few seconds.

“Peter.” He came back to Dr. Strange saying his name while he used his fingers to pry one of his eyes open. “Can you hear me?” 

He groaned in acknowledgement and the man pulled his hand away from his face.

“We should go.” Dr. Strange said, directing the statement to Tony, as he started waving his hands to make the gold portal to take them home. 

“Hang in there kid.” Tony told him and Peter tried. He really did. He never wanted to let Tony down, but an exhaustion like he’d never felt before pulled at him, and he couldn’t fight it any longer. The last thing he saw before he gave in and closed his eyes was Tony’s worried face illuminated by a shower of sparkles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! I made it into two parts. The next part is one of the other febuwhump prompts and it'll be posted this week, so you shouldn't have to wait too long!
> 
> Come hit me up on [Tumblr!](https://starryknight09.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Febuwhump Day 12: “please come back”

He floated in the ether of nothingness. Noises slipped through, but they went in one ear and out the other, their meaning dissolving away like candy floss.

_“Why isn’t he waking up? It’s been three days.”_

_“It’s a miracle he’s even alive. Anyone without his enhancement would be dead.”_

_“What does that mean?”_

_“It means we’re in uncharted territory.”_

_“But he’s going to be ok?”_

_“I don’t know.”_

_“When will you know?”_

_“Only time will tell.”_

_“I think his finger moved.”_

_“Probably just a reflex.”_

_“Or maybe he’s waking up.”_

_“Maybe, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”_

_“How much longer do you want to wait?”_

_“As long as it takes.”_

_“He might never be coming back Tones. Cho didn’t see any activity on the tests yesterday.”_

_“Shut up.”_

_“I know you don’t want to hear it but—"_

_“Get out.”_

_“It’s been three weeks. We need to start talking about our options.”_

_“No. He’s going to wake up.”_

_“Or he might not. Tony, we need to be realistic. It’s not looking promising at this point.”_

_“You said we needed to give him time.”_

_“Yes, but if he was going to get better, we should’ve started seeing some progress by now.”_

_“Or not. You said yourself this is uncharted territory.”_

_“I did. But we might have to face the fact that this injury is too much for even Peter to come back from.”_

_“No. He’ll come back. Trust me. He just needs a little more time. Can’t we just give him a little more time?”_

_“…Ok.”_

_“I’m not giving up on you Underoos. I know you’re in there. But now it’s time to come back. Pepper and Morgan miss you. I miss you.”_

_“Come back to me kid.”_

_“Please come back.”_

_“Please.”_

He had no sense of time. He just existed. There was nothing.

And then there was something. 

“’Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.'” A voice said. Voice… What was a voice? People had voices. A voice meant someone was speaking.

“’Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. 'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'” The voice continued on. It soothed him, but he didn’t know why. He tried to focus on it, but as soon he tried, he became aware of pain…somewhere. His…head. He remembered he had a head. Everyone did. And his hurt.

“I like this part Daddy.” A different voice said and he felt something in his chest warm. Why?

“Me too pumpkin.” The voice from before answered before going back to talking in a different tone. “’Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'”

The voice was doing something. He should know this. Trying to remember hurt his head, but he didn’t stop. He needed to figure it out. It came to him in the next second. Reading. The voice was reading. Reading meant books. And he loved books.

“'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.’” 

And the lines of this book were familiar. What was it? It was… It was… Oh right. The Velveteen Rabbit. One of his favorite books as a child. He’d read it to Morgan the week after he’d returned from the snap. And he’d cried because May used to read it to him and it’d made him miss her. And now it was one of Morgan’s favorite books. Morgan. The image of her flashed in his mind. Chestnut hair and warm brown eyes coupled with a mischievous smile. She was his sister. Because Tony had adopted him after the snap when he’d found out May was gone. Tony. The voice was Tony’s.

“’Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby.’” Tony read.

As the memories came back, so did an increased awareness. He felt like a newborn trying to make sense of the world around him. To keep from getting overwhelmed, he tried to focus on one thing at a time. He could sense the fluorescent lighting behind his closed eyelids and the air had a characteristic antiseptic smell. The medbay. That made sense. Something had definitely happened to him, but he couldn’t remember what. 

“’But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.’” 

He cataloged his body from head to toe. His limbs felt heavy and weighted down but they were all there. He wiggled his toes. Next, his fingers. He could feel the stiff cotton sheets underneath them.

“Daddy!”

“I know, that’s a good line.” Tony said, clearly amused.

“No Daddy, he moved! Peter moved. His fingers moved.”

“Sometimes that happens sweetheart. It’s from a reflex. Sort of like when you hit your knee and your leg jerks.”

Peter could sense Morgan’s skepticism even with his eyes closed. He licked his lips.

“Look! His tongue moved. That’s not a reflex, is it Daddy?”

“What?” Tony sounded shaken.

Peter frowned.

The next second he heard a thud.

“Daddy you dropped me.”

“Peter?!” Peter could feel Tony’s hand grip his shoulder and squeeze. “Buddy, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?”

His eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, but he managed to pry them open with a herculean effort to meet Tony’s shocked expression.

“Oh my god.” Tony whispered. “Peter. Are you… Can you talk?”

“Daddy I want to see Peter.” Morgan whined from behind him.

“Just a second honey. Daddy needs to talk to him first. Pete?”

Peter swallowed but his mouth felt like a desert.

“Wha—” He tried but the words got caught in his throat and he coughed weakly.

“Here. Take it slow.” Tony guided a straw into his mouth and he took a few gulps of water to moisten his throat.

Tony took the glass away once he’d finished and Peter tried to remember how to move his mouth the right way to form words. He cleared his throat before trying again, “What happened?” The words came out barely above a whisper.

Tony let out a laugh of delighted disbelief, a wide grin breaking out across his face as he bent forward to kiss his forehead before gathering him in a gentle hug. “You’re ok.” Tony said in elation, breathing deeply into his hair. It unnerved Peter to see him so rattled.

When Tony finally let go and settled on the edge of the bed, Peter could see unshed tears in his eyes.

“I’m ok.” He whispered, not liking to see Tony so upset. “But…what happened?”

“Jesus kiddo. I don’t even know where to start…” Tony rubbed his eyes, acting like it was because he was exasperated and not because he was trying to hide the moisture collecting there. 

“I do.” Morgan chimed in, finally pushing past Tony. “You hit your head really really hard.”

“Careful honey.” Tony warned as Morgan climbed up on his bed.

“It’s all right.” He said. The jostling made his head pound, but it was tolerable and worth it when Morgan flopped forward to hug him. He hugged her right back, unable to keep the smile off his face. “Hey little miss, I’m ok.”

“I missed you.” She sighed into his neck.

He frowned. “How long was I out for?”

“A long time.” Morgan answered, which wasn’t a very specific answer. He glanced up at Tony, unsure how to read the expression on his face.

When Tony didn’t answer, Peter asked again with an insistent edge to his voice, “How long?”

“It’s been almost two months.” Tony said quickly, glancing away like the answer hurt.

“What?” The word erupted from his mouth in shock. Two months? How was that possible?

Tony ran a hand through his hair before settling it on Peter’s shoulder. “Do you remember the mission we were on?”

He closed his eyes and tried to, but nothing came to him but a worsening headache. “No.”

“We were off world helping Captain Marvel and you got on the wrong side of one of the Kree.”

None of that rang any bells. At all. In fact… “What’s a Kree?”

Tony shook his head. “That’s not important right now. Anyway, we were on a mission and you got a bad knock on the noggin so we had to rush you back here. You were—” Tony glanced at Morgan and cut himself off, likely realizing he needed to censor the gory details. “Uh, there was some bleeding in your head so Cho had to do surgery, but even afterward there was so much swelling that… Well, we didn’t know if you’d ever wake up.”

“But I did.” He stated and didn’t know why it came out with a hint of uncertainty.

“Obviously.” Tony tried to smirk, but it fell flat. “And you're feeling ok, right?”

“Yeah. Um, my head kind of hurts but…” Peter reached up to feel his head and let out a little gasp when he felt the short buzz cut of his hair. “My hair.”

“It’ll grow back.” Tony said, finally managing a genuine smile as he reached out and rubbed the short stubble over his scalp.

“Yeah Petey, don’t worry it’ll grow back, and it doesn’t look so bad.” Morgan tried to reassure him as she held him a little tighter. “I’m just glad you’re awake.”

“Me too.” He mumbled into her hair. He still wanted to know all the details of what had happened, but he could ask Tony later. He knew the man wouldn’t want to go into the nitty gritty of it in front of Morgan anyway, so for now he just tried to relax, and enjoy the fact that he’d apparently cheated death again as he soaked up all the love being offered by Tony and Morgan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops I forgot to mention earlier that this takes place in that same Tony snaps but survives but May died in the intervening five years imaginary universe. Who loves The Velveteen Rabbit? Because it was one of my favs growing up and I still think it's great so I couldn't resist putting it in here.
> 
> Come hit me up on [Tumblr!](https://starryknight09.tumblr.com/)


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